— Linda Hoffman remembers walking in to the building that houses Emmaus Mission Center Homeless Shelter more than 10 years ago. There was a crumbled kitchen floor, one light bulb dangling from a wire, a sink with no hot water and a stove with one working burner.
A grant and donations from area businesses as well as many hours of volunteer labor eventually prepared the homeless shelter for its February 2002 opening.
“Our very first family was a young couple that had just moved here from Peru, no English and a little tiny child, and they were scared to death,” Hoffman recalled Sunday at the mission’s 10th anniversary celebration. “They still consider us family because of the way we helped them get started.”
That family has grown to “hundreds and hundreds” that have been in and out of the shelter during the last 10 years, said Jason Mitchell, the shelter’s executive director.
Mitchell said Sunday’s event was a way to say thank you to those who have donated and volunteered for the shelter.
“We’ve helped hundreds of people every year with a home, a warm place to stay and food and shelter,” he said. “It really is a testament to the people in the community who have given to us and that allows us to give to other people.”
Vic Sutton, a volunteer who helped get the shelter prepared for business, said he brought Mary Williams, who initially started the shelter, to the local Lion’s Club meeting to get the project rolling.
“It was all Mary’s vision,” Sutton said. “She just had a heart for other people. She’d about give you the clothes off her back.”
Sutton said there is still more work in educating the community.
“I think the community doesn’t realize how valuable Emmaus is,” he said.
Larry Kitchel, a volunteer for Emmaus, said the shelter has empowered many people over the years.
“More than anything, it’s a hand up, being responsible for your life and the position you are in and willing to make a change rather than just accepting it’s an entitlement,” he said.
Sunday was filled with stories and tours of the facility’s classroom, bedrooms and family room that up to 20 adults with kids call home temporarily.
It’s a wee bit different than the first month the shelter opened, Hoffman said, when about a dozen people came through.
“We depend on donations all the time to keep it going,” she said, adding that places like Ivy Tech Community College assist by sending interns needing experience in family services and human resources to help out.
Carolyn Cooper recalled scrubbing the steps at the shelter when it first opened and couldn’t help but be amazed by its accomplishments.
“Who could have envisioned back then what this would have turned in to?” she said.
• Jason M. Rodriguez is news editor of the Pharos-Tribune. He can be reached at 574-732-5117 or jason.rodriguez@pharostribune.com.
NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz
Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp
Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium
50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning
Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House
Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami
Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window
Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station
Calif.'s Coronado Named Nation's Best Beach
CEO Salaries Become Sore Issue in Labor Disputes
Raw Video: Fight Erupts in Ukrainian Parliament
Texan Ranchers Remain Wary of Drought
Raw Video: Soldiers Plant Flags at Arlington
Police: Man Arrested in Etan Patz Disappearance
NYC Protests: the Revolution Will Be Scripted
Chicago U.S. Attorney Fitzgerald Resigns
Neighbors of Etan Patz's Suspect: It's Shocking
Gulf Fishermen Reel From Seafood Troubles
Stuntman Makes Skydive Without Parachute in UK
Raw Video: Bride Who Faked Cancer Released
